When Unbroken split up in 1995, Steven Andrew Miller had already decided to make his side-project, Kill Holiday, his main priority. The idea was simple, to take it as far as it could go. The band had already undergone several renovations since the "Monitor Dependency" EP (New Age Records 1995) and years of rehearsals had followed. Line-up changes included Todd Beatty (former drummer of Unbroken) joining the band on bass. It wasn't until the two were joined by guitarist Chris Perreira in May 1997 that things started falling into place. A successful European tour was accomplished in November 1997 and, with the addition of drummer Gabriel Gamboa (of I Wish I), the band happily joined the Revelation Records roster.



The evolution of Kill Holiday can be easily traced up to this point; the post-hardcore leanings of the first effort to the more turbulent issues of guilt dealt with on their more mature, fairly rock-oriented 1997 Simba Records 7", "Meant To Let You Down." But then it all went black. Life had dealt one of those blows that you simply don't recover from. One of those where everything you do is affected by it. Redirected by it. This is not the place to go into it, but it can't go unmentioned when trying to explain the breathtaking development that led to this record. Kill Holiday reinvented themselves and retraced the footsteps that led them to hardcore in the first place; great eighties pop like The Smiths, Ride, The Charlatans - Englishmen with ideals and emotions matched in intensity only by their subcultural counterparts in Washington DC at the time: Rites Of Spring, Embrace, Soulside. It makes sense. Awareness of your own mortality dictates your perspective, expression is gained in experience, and these guys have stories to tell. Boy, do they have stories to tell...

Steven Andrew Miller - vocals, guitar, keyboards

Christopher Perreira - guitar

Todd Beattie - bass

Gabriel Gamboa - drums

When I first heard this I couldn't tell if I hated it and thought it was too cheesy or if the pop-loving side of me was in love with it. After a few engaged listens, I could wholeheartedly say that my pop side was digging this pretty hard. The first thing that comes to mind when you hear the singer's voice is The Smiths. He's got a semi-British accent going on and he seems to use the same kinds of inflection on the words he sings as Morrissey does. The good thing is that they don't let his voice override the music like the Smiths obviously did. whereas the Smiths were a vocal vehicle for Morrissey, Kill Holiday is much more rocking and music based. The best description I can come up with is: someone gave everyone in the Smiths steriods but Morrissey. Therefore they rock out and actually turn on some distortion. That might not sound enticing to all you 80's music haters, but trust me, Kill Holiday knows how to bust out the jams. They play some tight, melodic, rock music over the vocalist's strained, pretty voice. This is a really catchy and poppy cd, but it still rules (like the Smiths did).

A Different Kind Of Greatness (www.adgk.com), David Smith